O office



UNITED STATES OFFICE.

RBERT GRANT: OF NEW YORK, N. Y;

HYDRAULIC rases'.

q i Specification of Letters Patent o. 11,455, dated Augiust 1, 1854.

To all wwm t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT GRANT, of the` city and county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Machine forPressing Substances or VVringings Clothes or Squeezing Molasses fromSugar or for any other purposes wherein an equilateral hydraulic powercan be servically apflied; and lI` do declare hereby that the fol owingis a full, clear, and exact descrips tion of the construction andoperation of i the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making a part of this specification, in which-'- t i i Figure 1represents a view in perspective of the machine and Fig. 2 a"longitudinal section ofthe same. t

Letter A is a cylinder of galvanized spiral wire, forming thestrainer,andbodyof the pressing machine; C, hydraulic. Pump; B, india rubber bagor `flexible diaphragm inside the wire Vcylinder D, metallic 'platformservingals'ohfor the bottom of cylinder; E,

" hydraulic induction pipe` F, eduction pipe;

fao

G, curved pipe leading the waterfrom the pump, and attached to thebottom'of'the india rubberA bag or medium by the coupling joint H, Fig.2; I, netal top attached to the bottom by upright rods K, K, inclosingthe spiral wire cylinder, which is thus prevented from being extended;L, concentric section of the metallic top, which serves as a cover y tothe cylinder, and iskept in a rm position under pressure by lips O, O,O, on the periphery, which are constructed to lock into correspondinglips P P, P, P, on the inner rim of the metallic top;` R, safetv valves;S, face plate upon the bottomiof thue india rubber diaphragm, serving asanexterior collar t for supporting the tubular mouth of the bag X; T,interior screw pipe, for the mouth of the india rubber bag or diaphragm,and i serving as the male junction of the coupling H, leading to thehydraulic pump; Figs. 3 and 4, M, hydraulic ram, usedas occasion mayrequire in place of the pump to force water into the india rubber bag orflexible diaphragm. This ram is especially applicable in connection witha permanent head of water, as the ordinary croton head, giving apressure say of forty poun/ds to the inch, can be turned directly intothe dia hragm or pressure bag, as shown in the late 2, and thereby thewater can be mostly pressed from clothes, or any other purposes ofpressure nearly zelected, the water ram beingV necessary to' beV appliedonly for a short time, at the' ter`V mination, when the ratio `of`pressure increases rapidly, with the introduction of a comparativelysmall quantity of water.

The nature `of my invention consists in adopting an india rubberdiaphragm, or flexible pressure bag, or water tight medium, to theinside of a vessel of suitable strength, in such manner as' to' enablethesubstances required to bepressed, squeezed or wrung to be placed uponthe outside of the diaphragm while water, steam,`air, or gasisintroduced by any means available, Upon; the othe'rside of saiddiaphragm, Vwith sufficient force to cause the diaphragm to press uponthe material and thrust the' same' against the opposite perforated sidesor top of the vessel,A thereby` pressing said material `into anyrequired "shape, or squeezing or wringing from` the materialsuchjuice,lluid, or liquid as it may contain'l i a y To enable others skilled inthe art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation.

terior of this cage, I place an india rubber bag of suliicient size tooccupy the whole interior area, when distended. A tube from this bagpasses through the lower plate, and

is connected with the same by a collar of iron surrounding the tube.This tube is connected by a coupling screw to the pipe leading to thehydraulic pump. AThe bag I cause to be baked or vulcanized in acompressed or collapsed form, which form it naturally retains in thecylinder, when not distended. Between this bag and the extraneouswire-cage, I place the clothes or material required to be pressed,squeezed or wrung and then closethe same witha cover, which is insertedand made fast by means of lips inserted through slots in the sides ofthe opening of the top plate through which the clothes, Szc., areintroduced. I then force water, air or steam suiiiciently compressedinto the interior of the india rubber bag. As the wateror compressingmedium forces thebag outward, the material to be squeezed, wrung orp-ressed, is thereby thrust against the extraneous wire-cylinder, wherethe wire percolates through the interstices, while the solid partsremain within the wire cylinder. The great advantage derived from thismode of pressing consists in the equal adaptation of the flexible bag toevery part of the material required to be pressed, thus exerting anequal force upon every part of thecompressed surface, howeverv uneven itmay be. This quality` renders the machine particularly applicable to thepressing of hides, wringing clothes, squeezing molasses from sugar andall other purposes where an equilateral pressure is required.

When either the hydraulic or pneumatic pump is used, I apply power inany convenient manner either by hand or mechanical means. When thehydraulic pressure is used, which I consider as the most efficient andeconomical, I introduce a small quantity of air into the diaphragm, oriexible pressure bag, to give elasticity to the working of the pump orhydraulic ram. When power is used for giving the hydraulic pressure, Iattach a safety valve to the pump or induction pipe between the pump andcylinder.

I do not conne myself to either water, steam, air, or gas as acompressing medium, but use each singly or severally, as the case mayrequire, stillvI consider the. hydraulic pressure decidedly the best.

The flexible diaphragm or medium, or pressure bag, may be formed ofindia rubber, oil cloth, or leather, orvof any water or airtightmaterial; but I consider vulcanized india rubber cloth as incomparablythe best adapted for the required purpose.

Ihat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The combination of a flexible water andL

